The addition of 132 tourism establishments has resulted in a break in time series between the March and June quarters 2003. The impact of the break in time series is explained in the Appendix.

Particular care needs to be taken when calculating percentage changes between the June quarter 2003 and previous quarters. Where appropriate the effect of the break is taken into account in the analysis below.

(a) Break in time series between the March and June quarters 2003. See Appendix 1 for details.

Accommodation takings

The trend estimate of the total accommodation takings for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined was $1,399.3 million in the December quarter 2003. The trend estimate rose 4.2% in December quarter 2003 compared with September quarter 2003.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of the total accommodation takings rose by 6.0% in December quarter 2003 compared with September quarter 2003, to $1,421.5 million.

The room occupancy rate, being derived from number of rooms and number of nights occupied, is not subject to a break in series. This is explained in the Appendix.

The trend estimate of the room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined rose 1.4 percentage points from 60.5% in September quarter 2003 to 61.9% in December quarter 2003. The trend estimate has been increasing since the March quarter 2002.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of the room occupancy rate rose by 1.2 percentage points in December quarter 2003 compared with September quarter 2003, to 62.2%.

ORIGINAL

DECEMBER QUARTER ORIGINAL KEY FIGURES, Australia (a)

Dec qtr 2002

Sep qtr 2003

Dec Qtr 2003

Hotels

Guest rooms (no.)

77 516

77 914

78 720

Room nights occupied ('000)

4 769.8

4 809.5

4 996.5

Room occupancy rate (%)

67.2

67.1

69.4

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

668 532

664 512

759 603

Takings per room night occupied ($)

140.2

138.2

152.0

Motels and guest houses

Guest rooms (no.)

83 565

85 198

85 390

Room nights occupied ('000)

4 172.9

4 356.4

4 380.2

Room occupancy rate (%)

54.3

55.6

55.9

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

376 270

399 637

407 394

Takings per room night occupied ($)

90.2

91.7

93.0

Serviced apartments

Guest rooms (no.)

35 350

39 921

40 351

Room nights occupied ('000)

2 175.3

2 492.2

2 524.7

Room occupancy rate (%)

66.9

68.3

68.1

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

269 252

309 339

332 348

Takings per room night occupied ($)

123.8

124.1

131.6

Total

Guest rooms (no.)

196 431

203 033

204 461

Room nights occupied ('000)

11 118.0

11 658.1

11901.3

Room occupancy rate (%)

61.7

62.5

63.5

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

1 314 053

1 373 488

1 499 344

Takings per room night occupied ($)

118.2

117.8

126.0

(a) Break in time series between the March and June quarters 2003. See Appendix 1 for details.

Accommodation takings

In December quarter 2003, accommodation takings for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined were $1,499.3 million. This was an increase of 9.2% ($125.9 million) from September quarter 2003. The average takings per room night occupied for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined was $126.00.

Hotels were the highest contributor to accommodation takings with $759.6 million (50.7%). Takings per room night occupied in the December quarter 2003 were highest for hotels at $152.00.

The contributions of accommodation takings in the December quarter 2003 for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined were highest in New South Wales (35.1%) and Queensland (27.5%) and lowest in the Northern Territory (2.3%).

Room nights occupied

Total room nights occupied were 11.9 million in December quarter 2003 for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined. Room nights occupied increased by 2.1% (0.2 million) from September quarter 2003 to December quarter 2003.

Of the total, hotels contributed 5.0 million (42.0%) while motels and guest houses contributed 4.4 million (36.8%). Serviced apartments had the lowest room nights occupied at 2.5 million (21.2%) room nights.

Room occupancy rate

The room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined was 63.5% in December quarter 2003 compared with 62.5% in September quarter 2003. This was an increase of 1.0 percentage point. Hotels recorded the largest increase in the room occupancy rate at 2.3 percentage points. Serviced apartments recorded a decrease of 0.2 percentage points.

The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments combined with 70.3%. This was followed by Queensland (67.3%) and New South Wales (64.6%).

Graph - Room Occupancy Rates, Original - Australia

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

This data cube presents results from the quarterly Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA). The scope of the regular, annual STA includes hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms.

For the four quarters of 2003 the scope of the STA has been expanded to include:

holiday flats, units and houses of letting entities with 15 or more rooms or units

caravan parks with 40 or more powered sites

visitor hostels with 25 or more bed spaces.

HOTELS, MOTELS AND GUEST HOUSES AND SERVICED APARTMENTS

Data quality improvements

In the June quarter 2003 the ABS identified 132 hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments which had been operating for a number of quarters but were not on the STA frame. These additional establishments were included in the STA from the June quarter 2003.

Break in time series

The addition of the 132 tourism establishments resulted in a break in time series between the March and June quarters 2003. The impact of the break in time series is explained in Appendix 1. Particular care needs to be taken when calculating percentage changes between the June quarter 2003 and previous quarters.

HOLIDAY FLATS, UNITS AND HOUSES, CARAVAN PARKS AND VISITOR HOSTELS

The ABS has collected data for holiday flats, units and houses, caravan parks and visitor hostels for all quarters in 2003. These data will be released after December quarter 2003 data has been collected and processed.

DATA REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to the September quarter 2003 data in Table 2. Revision tables 19 to 21 are included on pages 42 to 47 of the publication. These provide revisions to Australia, Victoria and Melbourne Tourism Region for persons employed in hotels for the September quarter 2003.

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